1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems; and, more particularly, to characterizing, tracking, and/or monitoring operation of various components and/or elements within such communication systems
2. Description of Related Art
Data communication systems have been under continual development for many years. Sometimes, problems may occur that affect one or more of the various components within such communication systems so that the overall performance is less than optimal. Various problems such as equipment failure, degrading interfaces or connectors, etc. reduce the overall effectiveness of communications within such communication systems.
Diagnosis of such problems is typically performed by service personnel who conduct a service call to one or more locations where customers complain of poor service. Also, such service personnel can only analyze one given location at a time. A great deal of time is required to perform analysis of multiple locations within a communication system, and this procedure may be very labor and cost intensive.
Even after existing problems are identified and repaired, other problems may subsequently arise and cause other problems which also lead to degradation of the communication system's performance. Generally, a communication system's overall performance and fitness is dynamic and changing over time.